Below you’ll find all of the sex toy reviews I’ve written at Of Sex and Love. Find my opinions on vibrators, dildos, media (sex education books, porn, DVDs and erotica), bondage and BDSM gear, lingerie, anal toys, lube, massage products, and more!
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I’ve also reviewed sexual health goodies.
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Nomi Tang Getaway Luxe
N/A
from
This has since been replaced with the Nomi Tang Getaway Plus 2.
Has it really been soooo long since I first review the Better Than Chocolate? It was novel then, although not perfect. I’ve been wondering how well the new Nomi Tang vibrators would work but refrained from trying them because I had more than enough effective G-spot vibrators. Still, they looked so interesting, with their airplane-esque designs, that I eventually requested one to review.
The Luxe is the black model, the in-between, with an angled, slightly bulbous head. It’s less intense than the Wild but more interesting than the narrow shaft of the Pure. In fact, the Wild is awfully similar to the Lelo Ella, and I don’t think my pubic bone likes hooky things much. So Luxe it was.
There are some definite improvements over Tang’s first effort. For starters, the Luxe is coated in a silky silicone rather than the TPE composite of the Better Than Chocolate. The silicone feels velvety and smooth to the touch and is definitely softer. Although the inner workings of this vibrator are rigid, you can squeeze at the handle and the bulbous head and feel a bit of give. You might not expect this from the images, but I definitely approve.
Another improvement is the use of 2 AA batteries rather than AAA. Although the Getaway Luxe isn’t the most powerful vibrator that I own, its vibrations are moderately rumbly and more than do the trick for me. Now, if you’ve been here before, you’ll know that I respond well to deeper vibrations, even if they aren’t super strong. Unfortunately, if strength alone is what you require, the Luxe may not meet your needs.
That is not this toy’s only downfall. I complained in my Better Than Chocolate review but I just don’t understand why these vibrators start in their highest settings! Surely, we’re going to want to turn it up and be sorely disappointed when we realize that this is all we get. No need to reinvent the wheel here. Low to high has worked well for years.
I haven’t noticed any difference in the touch controls. In fact, I used my previous review to remember how to use them. The user guide is wrong, as it indicates sliding your finger toward the NT logo turns the vibrations up when the opposite is actually true. It’s a fairly smooth transition between strengths, but there’s not too much of a difference between the high and the low. In my opinion, the low could be even lower for more of a preparatory sensation and, of course, the highest steady vibration setting could be stronger yet. It’s definitely a middle-of-the-road vibrator.
I’d like some sort of light setting to indicate the strength of the vibrations on this one because you don’t have the definitive click of a button. The light remains steady on the steady vibrations, instead. It flashes when you turn on different modes after holding the NT logo for two seconds. As far as I can tell, the modes include a slow and fast pulsation–and that’s it. I don’t mind because the pulsation is pretty effective, but most vibrators have more settings than I can count or tell apart. If you like escalation or faster pulsation, you might find this one lacking.
But back to the positives. The Getaway Luxe is lockable if you press and hold the end of the slider without a logo. The logo turns red to indicate locking status, and if you power it off and back on again, it will be unlocked. You can use it underwater, and the battery compartment is pretty secure; however, the controls need to be dry to use. I’ve also noticed that it’s less responsive if my hands are a little greasy if I’ve put on lotion, and lube would seemingly cause the same.
My thoughts on the touch controls are a little less positive this time around. It works; it has some nice features, but it’s not as convenient as a physical button, which is quicker, offers tactile feedback, and will still work even when greasy (for the most part). I’m also frustrated with the entire battery setup. You screw off the end of the toy to insert 2AAs into a plastic carriage. It’s a little finicky, and I’d rather directly insert the batteries. Aligning the cap back up is a bitch. I can’t never get it right, so it always takes a few moments of fiddling. Once it’s on, it’s on and secure, however.
I did enjoy the shape and texture of the Getaway Luxe. The bulbous head easily found my G-spot and was also good for clitoral stimulation. The wide handle is so easy to grasp and a little softer than the shaft. The placement of the touch script, during use, is a bit awkward but it’s not so much an issue if you leave it on one setting.
Luxe offers 6 insertable inches, and the majority of the shaft is only around 1 inch thick. The bulbous head is slightly wider, but it’s not a large toy by any means, so it may be good for newbies. Because of the larger handle, the toy has an overall length of 11″ and you may want to pass this by if you want something discreet.
Like the Better Than Chocolate, this comes in a pretty white box. This time, it sits in satin, with a long and narrow guide book and Nomi Tang now includes a drawstring satin bag for storage and transportation. While the Getaway Luxe hasn’t proven to be a dust magnet like some of my other silicone toys, this is definitely a plus. Yet, other toys come with storage and better performance for less.
Compact Discretion
N/A
from
This is an archived review of a discontinued product.
MyPleasure offers The Compact Discretion is a bullet vibrator that aims to be discreet and, in that, it is actually pretty successful. The vibrator itself, its cords, battery pack and control all sit within a case that looks like a short glasses case. It’s too small to fit glasses but you could maybe describe it as for cigarettes or business cards. Either way, it makes your vibrator super portable in addition to discreet.
But aside from that, I didn’t like this toy a bit. As soon as I opened the case, a strong plastic/manufacturing smell emanated from it. Unfortunately, this is full of plastic parts that simply didn’t get enough airing out. You might be able to remedy this a bit by letting it sit open. I did, but the smell didn’t completely dissipate.
Aside from the smell, another complaint is the battery compartment. There’s a button you need to press down to slide the rectangular cap outward and up, but it’s not very efficient and likes to stick. When the compartment does open, it 2-AA batteries. This leads directly to my next complaint. For a vibrator that uses 2-AA batteries, the Compact Discretion is absolutely weak. The vibrations are incredibly shallow and surface-level. If I didn’t know better, I’d expect this bullet to be powered by a single AAA! It’s nothing compared to the BNaughty, which I enjoyed quite a bit.
There’s a slider button to control the vibrations. Because they’re so shallow, I really can’t tell much of a difference between the five settings. They’re all steady; no patterns here. There’s tiny red lights to help show which setting you’re on but I don’t find them all that helpful.
Onward with the complaints! The cord between the case and the bullet itself seems quite short. I don’t use a lot of corded toys these days so I find it so awkward. The case is too big to hold during use, really, but if you set it down next to you, the cord makes things awkward. Although it’s attached to the bullet securely, the bullet itself feels cheap.
Because everything’s attached, you need to deal with the awkwardness while trying to wash without wetting the inner workings. You must also completely dry the bullet before returning it to its case.
I don’t have a lot of positives to say about this toy. It’s discreet but at the cost of being fully functional. I would spend the money on a higher quality bullet for sure.
There’s nothing like a long book that you don’t really like. I guess I could sum up my experience with “Gotta Have It” in those words and leave it but I’ll try to explain exactly why this book didn’t catch my fancy. I mean, there’s a cat on the cover, so that should count for something, right?
“Gotta Have It” promises to offer 69 stories of sudden sex, and while the sex may be sudden, it’s not all sudden fiction. That is, some of them are just a little longer than I like and we all know how I don’t like erotica that lasts longer than I do. And, honestly, I think the sheer number of stories is not working in this book’s favor. It appears bulky, especially because it’s shorter and squatter than any other erotica book I own. It’s ten times as big as Five Minute Erotica! Maybe I wouldn’t have noticed so much if I weren’t reviewing it but I felt the deadline pressing against me and was just trying to finish all the stories, one by one, and they kept blending together. By the time I finished the book, I couldn’t remember anything about the first stories–there was just too much data to try to recall in one place. This would have been much better off as two volumes.
But it’s more than that because I found myself paging through and passing by more stories than I read. A lot of them just didn’t pull me in from the start and I couldn’t get into them by continuing on. I don’t like to waste my time so I skipped ahead. The problem is that the focus of these stories appears to be the writing rather than the sex or sexuality. They’re all spectacularly written and interesting as literature but not as erotica. It’s almost as though the sex is an afterthought in some of them.
There are well-written stories with a wide variety of subjects. The themes in this book include golden showers, sex with strangers, voyeurism, phone sex, gender play, online dating and Godzilla. Yes, Godzilla. In fact, Salome Wilde’s “Too Wondrous To Measure” is a fantastic tale about the giant reptile that I remember simply because it was weird. Call me old-fashioned but I just don’t get turned on by the guy. There are a mixture of gay, lesbian, bisexual and straight couplings but there’s a lot of monogamous sex that I just didn’t find particularly thrilling in “Gotta Have It.”
One of my favorite stories actually details the make-up sex of a married couple. Daniel Burnell’s “Ties That Bind” was interesting when I first read it. Yet, it’s not something that is so interesting or different that I remember it once the book leaves my hands. The same can be said for “Lucky Number Fifty-One” which follows a man who gets the chance to have sex with his favorite porn star and is able to impress her.
At the end of the day (or page or book), “Gotta Have It” Is simply not the best erotica collection I’ve read. It’s better than, say, X, because I like stories short but I have four or so anthologies on my nightstand that I found to be much more interesting. I don’t know if it’s the sole reason but I seem to really enjoy collections that Alison Tyler have edited and this one was edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel. I’d recommend Five Minute Erotica if you want a short and sexy story. Some of those have left some pretty vivid memories in my mind.
Relaxing Massage Oil
$18.79
from Of Sex and Love Store
When I picked Intimate Organic’s relaxing massage oil to review, I was hoping the blend of lemongrass and coconut would be pleasant. I’m slightly less of a fan of lemongrass so if the coconut were the highlight, that would be awesome. Unfortunately, the lemongrass really dominates. In fact, I can’t smell anything coconut at all. )= If you’re unfamiliar with lemongrass, it’s a sour smell that is similar to but not the same as an actual lemon. When you smell it, the name makes perfect sense. If you’re a fan of lemons/citrus, this may better suit you than me.
The massage oil comes in a push-top style bottle. It’s slightly yellow-ish in the bottle but appears clearer on the skin. It’s quite thin but pretty slick so it stays on the skin. It continues to make it easier to manipulate the skin and body but does feel a little greasy if you’re done massaging. Therefore, you’ll probably want to wash your hands after using the Relaxing Massage Oil.
This oil is made with certified organic extracts; of course, this is no surprise given the name of the company (Intimate Earth). The ingredients list includes sweet almond oil, sunflower oil, coconut oil, goji berry ectract, lemongrass extract and aloe extract among a few other ingredients including the ever misleading “parfum.”
I probably would have done better to try the Sensual Cocoa Bean and Goji Berry Massage Oil because I already know I like the scent but I did want to try something else. Unfortunately, I can’t relax very well in an environment that doesn’t please my nose, but if someone (like, say, a hot nerd) was offering me a massage with this oil, I certainly wouldn’t say “No.” I would base your shopping decisions upon the specific ingredients rather than the purpose (sensual, relaxing, etc) with Intimate Organics products.
Thanks so much to IO for providing me with this opportunity!
Booty Parlor Seduction Kit
This is an archived review of a discontinued toy.
Booty Parlor makes a whole line of sensual items that come in fairly cute packaging. It’s all very feminine and reminiscent of Pure Romance, if you ask me. You didn’t ask me but I’ll tell you anyway.
This kit consists of lip gloss, lube, massage oil and a scented candle. Each has a clever little moniker like the “light my fire” candle. If I had read closer, I might not have opted for it because I’m not a fan of mint and the lip gloss is mint. It’s the super sweet type of mint (and the gloss tastes sugary in itself) so I actually don’t mind it. Unfortunately, if you are a fan, you’ll be disappointed because the scent and taste don’t last more than a few minutes. Then, you’re left with a waxy residue that would be a whole lot sexier, in my opinion, if it were still scented.
On the other hand, I kind of wish the scent of the massage oil would fade because it honestly reminds me of something burning or.. burned. Like they overcooked something in the process. It also smells a little dusty. It’s not super strong but it’s just too weird and unpleasant for me to enjoy the massage oil. I.. don’t know how this got past quality control, honestly.
The “add magic” lube doesn’t have a smell. It’s my favorite part of the set. It’s a thinner gel that runs a bit but nothing too bad. It’s slick enough and I didn’t have to reapply. The bottle is pretty small but comes with a pump and a cap so it’s easy to use and mess-free. It’d probably be great in your purse or suitcase.
Praise is over now. The candle is generically floral scented in an overpowering way. Also, it’s not a massage candle. It simply exists for atmosphere. Not that I entirely mind that, but since I don’t enjoy the scent, it doesn’t do much for me. Sadly, this also means I haven’t burned it to its end to see how long it lasts.
This set comes in a box with a clear plastic color. Pinks, red, and white are the main colors, and it all feels a little Victoria’s Secret. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it in a store.. but I wouldn’t buy it and now I’m not sure that I want to try any other Booty Parlor products, either. =/
Thanks to SheVibe for letting me try it, though.
L'Amour Weighted Pleasure System
$9.99
from Amazon
Using vag balls is not quite like riding a bike. Yes, you can lose that skill. I guess the fact the getting back on the horse, or bike as it were, does share one similarity with vag balls: doing it wrong hurts.
Now, I can’t even remember the last time I’d used vaginal balls. It may have been two years. I did credit them with helping me locate my G-spot but I didn’t particularly enjoy using them. However, it’s been long enough that I was willing to jump back into the game when I received my most recent Sexpert assignment. L’Amour Premium Weighted Pleasure System is an awful lot like the vag balls in the Couture Collection, and we all know that I think the two are pretty redundant. The balls themselves are hard plastic, with an elastic silicone connector and a long (3″ or 4″) silicone retrieval cord. They’re available in pink, purple, or blue, and while the blue is actually pretty cute, I received pink. The plastic is quite shiny and smooth, although there are raised “stripes” around the length of the oval-esque balls. The raised portion doesn’t feel sharp like a seam, however.
The balls measure about 1.5″ from end to end, length-wise. They seem comparable to other balls I’ve used and, even then, I remember them being large and a bit unwieldy. So I loaded up the Premium Weighted Pleasure System with some water-based lube (Frolic, if you’re interested), dropped the drawers and popped a squat.. and found myself completely unable to insert these things. I probably used a bit too much lube but the smooth plastic was definitely not working for me. That’s where Smartballs or K-Balls tend to win out: they’re better for grasping.
So I leaned one foot up on the bed and was able to insert one ball but not without stabbing my labia with finger nails and pulling on my hair. Man, how the hell did I manage it so many times before? When I was finally able to get the second ball in, it kept slipping out completely or just nudging at the opening to my vagina uncomfortably. I’d get it in, think it was staying, and it’d move right back down. I finally jammed both balls up there and they seemed to stay.. It’s kind of like the opposite of giving birth, you know.
The Premium Weighted Pleasure System is pretty damned effective at stimulating my G-spot if only because of their sheer size. They touch everything in my vag so if they managed to miss my G-spot, it’d be almost miraculous. I noticed almost immediately that I could feel the inner weights moving around. I mean, there’s no mistaking this. You don’t need to do jumping jacks or go for the job. Those suckers just move! I feel them when I walk, I feel them when I do chores, I feel them when I shake my hips back and forth just ’cause I can. I don’t remember any of the kegel balls I’ve tried before making such an impression. And after the initial movement, I feel the inner balls bouncing around a bit as they settle back into position. These are the vag balls I’d want to use during spanking.
I still don’t entirely love the concept, however. Because I’m not G-spot orgasmic, the constant pressure becomes a bit annoying. Sure, it makes it easier to squirt, but it doesn’t exactly feel good. The balls, once in place, aren’t necessarily uncomfortable, but if I move my muscles, they can be.
Because of the lack of texture, these balls slide ride out easily. They wash up with soap and water, but those decorative ridges create seams in the balls, and I’m curious why California Exotics wouldn’t just choose to use a silicone coating. In addition to that, if you really pull on the separator, you can pull it out of the balls further than it should be, and see the beginning of a loop. Granted, I was being pretty aggressive, but the construction left a little to be desired.
So, if you’re more into the idea of vag balls than I am, I’d probably recommend the L’Amour Premium Weighted Pleasure System.
Defense Protection lubricant
$14.92
from Intimate Earth
PSA: Intimate Organics is now known as Intimate Earth and sells this product as their Defense Protection Glide.
Thus far, I’ve had about a 50-percent chance if liking any Intimate Organics product that I’ve tried. Their Hydra Lube? Eh. The shower gel? Yea! G-spot Gel? You betcha! Their defense protection lube? I think I’ll pass on this.
I was really intrigued by the product description. Intimate Organics uses only natural ingredients, including those that are FDA-certified organic, in their line-up. The important ingredients in this lube are carrageenan and guava bark extract. Carrageenan has been gaining popularity in lubes and apparently interferes with infectious viruses like HPV, while guava bark is known for treating and preventing yeast infections. If you’re thinking Defense Protection Lubricant sounds ideal for anyone prone to infections, you’re right. Luckily that’s not me and I’m not entirely sure that I’d want to be prone to infections just to write a better review. Sorry? You’ll notice that this water-based lube is free of glycerine and propylene glycol, ingredients that can cause irritation in some people.
Anyway, this lube comes in a green bottle with green-tinted packaging. It’s a far cry from the typical pink and purple color schemes and is simply interesting. The lube itself isn’t actually green but I wouldn’t be quite surprised if it were. It would certainly make me think “natural.” It’s sort of a thin gel. It won’t stay exactly where you put it but it doesn’t run all over the place, which I can certainly appreciate with toys.
However, I expected the same issues with Defense Protection lube as I did with Hydra. The lubricant has a tendency to quickly rub in, rather than staying on the surface long enough to reduce friction. This is pretty much the worst possible characteristic that a lube could have when I’m using clitoral toys because I use short and fast movements but, even when I tried to use it with the First Mate Dildo. I added more and more and it just never seemed like enough. It’s the wrong kind of wet for lube.
Not surprisingly, this lube leaves virtually no residue but, you’ll probably still want to wash your hands and other parts after using it because it stinks to high heaven. It has a cosmetic/natural scent that is funky and strong and smells clean but really unpleasant. It’s also very strong, so strong that I found it to be a turn off during play and strong enough that I’d be afraid to use it with a new partner lest they ask “What is that smell?” That’s no good.
While I really, really like the idea of defense protection lube and natural ingredients, I’d much rather have a chemical-laden lube that works. It looks like Intimate Organics lubes just aren’t meant for me.
